[Pawn3d]

Many manufacturers (Toshiba Direct, HP & Applecare, to name a few) have came under fire from consumer claims that their computers are ticking time bombs, set to detonate after the warranty expires.


WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO DO THAT?
A couple of reasons: 1) They want you to pay for repair costs, or 2) to get you to purchase a new machine.

As an Mac technician, I have witnessed Apple try sweep nearly every hardware issue under the carpet. From iPod battery life to notebooks overheating, Apple's first response is always "Not our fault". It takes a class action lawsuit for Apple to take accountability.

WHO WOULD FIND OUT?
No one. Weather or not a machine is built to break after a certain period of time is only known by the CEO's and they're not going to admit it. All the manufacturer has to do blame it on wear and tear or at best, accident.

[Pawn3d]

To further on the Apple conspiracy...

Some people say that Apple's continuous Software Updates as designed to restrict or bloat the computer, rendering it very slow, in attempt to force the user into buying the newer model. You are opening up a new can of worms if you think you can install more RAM on a Mac and not have problems and system crashes...

[Ciberblade]

It's a statistical game....the length of coverage was not chosen at random....it was picked from an analysis of hardware expected life -- the same is true for cars...only, it's when the vehicle is paid off.

Typically, most users do not understand the impact that adding/removing multiple programs to a system have....thats not to mention spyware/malware. Restoring the system after several years of use would be the best bet. The clever user would create an image after the system's initial configuration, and backup data -- then when the times comes, they can simply restore from the image and backup -- and be right back to where they were...less all the crap.

[Pawn3d]

tell me about it I have an old iMac that I use for graphic design... when I bought it in 2001, it was blazing fast with. a great machine, it worked perfect with 10.2 Jaguar, running Adobe CS2 apps.

After a years, I noticed it ran a little slower. Apple said it was just old and that's when I first started to question their integrity, because back in the day, purchasing a mac, was like marriage, not a one night stand.

I was hot on the trail when I made my discovery. I knew the machine was bloated as I had 15% free disk space. Then I got the Software update for Jaguar and the Mac barely even started. The operating system took about 1/2 of my memory with apps that I'd never use like iChat, ICal, iSync, Safari...

I told the world about my discovery and I was the subject of mockery. I had all kinds of criticism from Mac users, technicians and even Apple employees, all signing the same song: "You're crazy, Jaguar is the best" or "You must have put some 3rd party software or something" and my personal favorite from a genius at the Apple Store: "Don't be so cheap, just buy a new Mac."

What did I do? I conducted an experiment. So I backed up my important data and installed a fresh copy of Jaguar and she was good as new. But I didn't stop there. For all I knew, it could have been my fault, and I had to know. I tested it's performance for about 3 hours before installing the software update and just as I expected, the Jag was as fast as an Astro van.

Apple didn't want to hear the test results and banned me from the support site...



iMac G3 Snow
750 MHZ
40GB HDD
768MB

[Stoner]

Don't leave Gateway out ( before they were bought out, at least)

My first computer was a new Gateway. P3 500 with 64mb ram ( )
One of the services the salesman pushed as a feature was a Gateway help site for users that were under warranty.
All I had to do was post the serial# on the chassis and my question.
A moderator replied that I was banned because I obviously didn't own a Gateway product.
Follow ups several years later to sell me a new Gateway couldn't figure out why I kept telling them to 'stuff it'

[Chicon]

Still have my old AMD I bought 6 years ago running fine with W2K. The only thing I had to replace is the CPU fan made in Junkland.

[CDATech]

LoL...I still have my Pentium 120Mhz, 1.2 GB HDD, 48mb of EDO ram. Oh...ISA Sound Blaster 16 (Best Sound Card Ever...) It runs like a champ as a linux box. Man...I built that thing in 8th in highschool I think.

Almost forgot my Trident 2mb PCI Video Card, w00t!

[poochee]

Originally Posted by Ciberblade

It's a statistical game....the length of coverage was not chosen at random....it was picked from an analysis of hardware expected life -- the same is true for cars...only, it's when the vehicle is paid off.

Typically, most users do not understand the impact that adding/removing multiple programs to a system have....thats not to mention spyware/malware. Restoring the system after several years of use would be the best bet. The clever user would create an image after the system's initial configuration, and backup data -- then when the times comes, they can simply restore from the image and backup -- and be right back to where they were...less all the crap.

Is that the same as the restore disk you are advised to make when you first get the computer? I did that. I don't have anything stored on my computer that would be a disaster if I lost it. I save important stuff on a CD.

[WarC]

Any piece of software designed to cause a system crash would be wiped out by formatting the drive. So it wouldn't be a very practical solution for an OEM system builder, as that machine is not likely to be replaced outright - It is more likely to be serviced. Also, it will hurt their reputation.

Hardware wise - Something like this would be detectable. Whether it was something on the BIOS chip, or some other chip placed on the motherboard - Something like this would be found by one of the millions of computer users out there whom routinely "tweak" and "mod" their computers. Now a tweaker is less likely to purchase a machine from a brand-name seller, but I still think it is very unlikely that some sort of "sabotage chip" could go undetected by anyone.

Computers are not mysteries, though they can act mysteriously.

[wacor]

Originally Posted by poochee

Is that the same as the restore disk you are advised to make when you first get the computer? I did that. I don't have anything stored on my computer that would be a disaster if I lost it. I save important stuff on a CD.

No

A drive image copies everything on the computer. you use a particular program such as Acronis to copy and then restore it. if you do a drive image and your computer crashes you can reinstall everything in about 15 minutes. I have my computers all drive imaged onto an exernal drive.

[poochee]

Originally Posted by wacor

No

A drive image copies everything on the computer. you use a particular program such as Acronis to copy and then restore it. if you do a drive image and your computer crashes you can reinstall everything in about 15 minutes. I have my computers all drive imaged onto an exernal drive.

Thanks.

[Stoner]

I think it depends on what the manufacturer offers as a restore disk on the initial start up.
My Acer used NTI which as I remember did make a drive image of that factory fresh install.

[poochee]

Originally Posted by Stoner

I think it depends on what the manufacturer offers as a restore disk on the initial start up.
My Acer used NTI which as I remember did make a drive image of that factory fresh install.

I'll have to check my records. I have an HP Pavillion.

Thanks

[wacor]

On my HP laptop the restore did restore the computer to original but wiped out everything else. a drive image will save everything you have at the time of copying. I made copies of the computers fresh out of the box and then after I tweaked them and got all the programs I wanted installed.

[Stoner]

I've done the same, but I'm thinking of doing a fresh factory install this fall. It'll be two years on the original install and I'd like to permanently/completely remove some of the clutter I find I no longer need.
I save everything to a different partition, so there's no data loss involved.
Actually, I moved 'My Document' to my D partition and keep all my 'stuff' there.


I did an image of my Mom's laptop before the hard drive failed.
That saved a lot of work.
The original image has now gone almost 5 years.